China Astronaut Training Group 1 selected. - .
Nation: China. Related Persons: Chen Quan; Deng Qingming; Fei Junlong; Jing Haipen; Liu Buoming; Liu Wang; Nie Haisheng; Pan Zhanchun; Yang Liwei; Yuhangyuan 1?; Yuhangyuan 2?; Zhai Zhigang; Zhang Xiaoguan; Zhao Chuandong. Selection of astronauts to fly the Project 921 / Shenzhou manned spacecraft began at the end of 1995. Only PLAAF pilots were considered. Review of service records identified 1504 candidates, further reduced to 886 after stricter screening. In the summer of 1996, 60 candidates passed initial testing at their home bases and were sent to Beijing for final tests and interviews. By April 1997 the candidate list had been pared down to 20, and the final 12 were selected at the end of 1997. The group was officially established in January 1998. In March, 1998, the two Chinese astronauts trained in Russia in 1996, who were also the trainers of this first group of 12 cosmonauts, joined the group officially as candidates for future spaceflights, bringing the total to 14.